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Mathematics and the Sciences During the Renaissance
Some Renaissance scientists thought mathematics could help them understand the universe. They studies
ancient math texts and build on the ideas in them. In the process, they created many of the symbols we use in
the math today. These include the symbols of the square root and for positive (+) and negative (-) numbers.
Advances in mathematics led to advances in other fields of science. Engineers and architect, for example, used
new mathematical formulas to design ways to strengthen buildings.
By 1380 an algebraic symbolism had been developed in Italy in which letters were used for the unknown, for its
square, and for constants. The symbols used today for the unknown (for example, x), the square root sign, and
the signs “+” and “−” came into general use in southern Germany beginning about 1450. They were used by
Regiomontanus and by Fridericus Gerhardt and taught at the University of Leipzig in 1486. The idea of
distinguishing between known and unknown quantities in algebra was first consistently applied by François
Viète, with vowels for unknown and consonants for known quantities. Complex numbers, which are implicit in
such ideas, were gradually accepted about the time of Rafael Bombelli (died 1572), who used them in
connection with the cubic
Renaissance scientists wanted to know more about the sky and what was in it. They studies astronomy to learn
about the sun, starts and planets. Through their efforts, Renaissance scientists learned that the earth moved
around the sun.
Beginning in the latter half of the 15th century a humanist faith in classical scholarship led to the search for
ancient texts that would increase current scientific knowledge. Among the works rediscovered were Galen's
physiological and anatomical studies and Ptolemy's Geography. Botany, zoology, magic, alchemy, and
astrology were developed during the Renaissance as a result of the study of ancient texts. Scientific thinkers
such as Leonardo da Vinci, Nicolas Copernicus, Galileo, Tyco Brahe, and Johannes Kepler attempted to refine
earlier thought on astronomy. Among Leonardo's discoveries were the revelation that thrown or shot projectiles
move in one curved trajectory rather than two; metallurgical techniques that allowed him to make great
sculptures; and anatomical observations that increased the accuracy of his drawings.
In 1543 Copernicus wrote De Revolution, a work that placed the sun at the center of the universe and the
planets in semi correct orbital order around it; his work was an attempt to revise the earlier writings of Ptolemy.
Galileo's most famous invention was an accurate telescope through which he observed the heavens; he recorded
his findings in Siderius nuncius (Starry Messenger) in 1610. Galileo's Dialogo for which the Catholic Pope
denounced him, because of Galileo's approval of Copernicus, resulted in Galileo living under house arrest for
the rest of his life. Tyco Brahe gave an accurate estimate of planetary positions and refuted the Aristotelian
theory that placed the planets within crystal spheres. Kepler was the first astronomer to suggest that planetary
orbits were elliptical.
Scientific advance during the Renaissance crossed into many fields. Andreas Vesalius of Belgium began
dissecting cadavers and made many discoveries about the human anatomy. The discovery that there were some
mathematic relationships in the world of nature created even more questions. In art, they studied how to depict
objects in the same way they appear to the eye (perspective). Leonardo da Vinci combined art and science in his
studies of nature and structures. Both art and science can be seen in his designs for the different types of
machines and devices he conceived. Some significant inventions during the Renaissance were the printing
press, the compass and gunpowder.
Most of the scientific advances during the Renaissance were made by scholastic thinkers and not humanists.
The humanists, and their inherent dislike for ordered, logical thought may actually have slowed the advance of
science. Humanists believed that scholastic thinkers were not addressing the real needs of humanity.